Prologue II: "Welcome Aboard"

Written by: Mr. Ruff

Edited by: Phoenix Writer GPH, Littleredline, and Lillaptop

The camera feed focused on our bombastic host, Drew "The Stone" Jones, kicking his feet up on a table. Him and his two co-hosts were in the dimly lit conference room at the network's headquarters. "The Stone says Captain Hack should sail in our cast for the season."

Across from him, Pamela, ever the skeptic, raised her eyebrow at The Exalted One. "I don't know. I feel like we should probably fly in the contestants this year. Captain Hack doesn't look to be the safest of navigators."

"YOU DARE QUESTION ME EXPERTISE, LASSIE?" the sailor responded back, indignantly. He raised his silver flask to his mouth and took a mighty swig of whatever was in there. Pamela thought she had seen him relieve himself in said flask a few hours ago, but she tried to not pay this any mind.

Pamela shook her head in disbelief. "And he's drinking on the job! Why is he even here?"

"Because Captain Hack is the greatest thing since The Stone! Hack is sailing in our contestants and that's final!" Drew proclaimed with the greatest amount of conviction money could buy.

Pamela rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If you say." The hosts were alerted by a knock at the door before a couple of suits came in. They sauntered their way towards the head of the table, faces covered in a shadow of darkness.

"Ah, The Stone's producers! Great to see you again," Drew gleefully greeted them.

"Likewise. The ad run we put out seems to be working really well," the first producer spoke up. "I'm sure that you and your team have been looking over each application, carefully."

"Aye, laddy. You'd be correct," the drunk pirate gave his retort. "We've been looking for the best sailors from around the world."

"What he means to say is that we've liked a lot of what we've seen, so far, but we don't have a full cast at this moment," Pamela says. "And I'm glad Stone isn't selecting every contestant, or we'd have to have a battle royal instead"

"Don't give The Stone no sass! The Stone knows that violence pops a rating!" Drew defended.

"Well, who have you accepted so far?" the second producer asked, finally breaking her silence.

"This is who we have so far on The Stone's show." Drew slings a briefcase on top of the table and slides it up to the producers.

"What is this?" the first producer asks.

"In the briefcase, we have the files of the first 12 we've accepted so far," Pamela replies.

The producers opened the briefcase and gave the profiles a cursory first glance. As they began reviewing, they hummed in unison. While they had done this sort of thing many times before, they were all too aware that they needed to make sure that this show was a hit. The network would certainly be at their necks if The Stone and company couldn't make a great first season! Then again, it would be the show's only season if that was the case.

"Hmm, Theodore Wallace of the Teddy Bear Nation. My daughter watches his gaming channel," the first producer mused, once again breaking the deafening silence.

"I think I've seen a couple of his videos, as well. They are quite good," the second producer gleamed in agreement.

"The Stone feels like he may be a jabroni, but he can definitely bring in more viewers," Drew added.

Pamela sent him a death glare. "He'd be a valuable asset to this season, even if he isn't your choice of contestant, Stone." Drew looked like he wanted to rebut, but before he could Hack's face suddenly crashed on the table and the pirate began to loudly snore.

"He's so precious," The Stone said as he lovingly looked on at his pirate companion.

The first producer awkwardly looked on at the scene playing out in front of him, before clearing their throat. "Moving on. I see you have both a cage fighter and a martial artist? Laurie Ray Dawson and Rochelle Diaz. Stone, I assume this was your doing. Do we have to take away the keys?"

"No, you don't. The Stone isn't tryna start up his wrestling promotion," The Exalted One meekly replied. The "yet" was heard, even though it wasn't explicitly stated.

"You'd be surprised at how many fighter types we had to turn down, so far. It's like they saw Stone and decided to apply in droves." Pamela plainly stated.

The second producer scowled at the next file. "Why in the hell would we let someone like Chase Walker onto our network's programming?"

"The Stone thinks he's funny," Drew said in a matter of fact manner.

"Admittedly, I really didn't want him along for the ride, but I must say he is kinda funny." Pamela agreed with the host.

The second producer couldn't argue with that, recognizing the importance of having a funny cast. She brushed off her initial disbelief and continued to look on at the other apps.

"Where are your drama queens? The pot stirrers? Shit starters? You need that more than anything for this show to be successful." her partner challenged.

"I'm glad you asked," Pamela chuckled a bit, "If you go to-"

"The Stone made sure to bring the drama!" Drew rudely interrupted. "Just take a look at Tamera Brown!"

"Dick," Pamela muttered.

"Ah, there she is," the second producer beamed.

"Ooh, her father is the CEO of a Fortune 500. Perhaps, we could use this to leverage sponsorship from them in the future?" the first producer smirks, with dollar signs in his eyes.

"Possibly, but also, check out-" Pamela starts.

"Ah yes! Also, look at Mollie DuPont! She's some frilly artist or whatever, sure, but she could be a fire starter!" The Stone once again exclaimed.

"This mothafucka," Pamela muttered, as she began to become livid.

"I don't know what she means by 'paint the drama', but we'll take it." the second producer shrugged.

"Hmm, it seems obligatory to have a surfer in this season's cast. Cove Mosley seems to be an interesting guy," the first producer spoke up.

Captain Hack, seemingly on cue, arose from his slumber. He lets out a hearty battle cry for no reason, "AYYYYYEEE!" He chuckles a bit.

"Aye, yes. That laddy has a spirit that's of the sea. He reminds me of a young me." He smiled, but next to him, Pamela was looking on in disgust.

"Hack, go to the parking lot. Your breath smells like piss." Pamela's worst thoughts seemed to be confirmed by the stench.

"Don't listen to her, Captain Hack. The Stone doesn't mind," Drew interjected, quick to defend his seemingly out of place compatriot.

"Aye, laddy, I must go to the lavatory and relieve myself on the latrine." The pirate said as he stepped away from the table and headed out the door.

"And you better use a damn toilet, Hack!" Pamela yelled as he made his way into the hallway.

"Uh, why did we hire that guy?" The first producer asked in amazement.

"Because Stone said he wanted a pirate as a co-host. It was literally written into his contract!" the second producer whispered to her partner in an aside.

"But anywho," the first producer tried to get back on track, "What's the whole deal with the fake royalty?"

"What do you mean, 'fake royalty'?" The Stone asked.

"I think he's talking about Osvaldo Agosti and Pharaoh Sky, Stone." Pamela clarified for her coworker. "Ozzy seems to be genuinely delusional, but I think he'll make some good television like Tamera and Mollie. For Pharaoh, it looks to be part of an act for the camera. Overall, he seems to be a funny guy altogether." Pamela smiled after she noticed that she was able to complete two full sentences without being interrupted. She wanted to try her luck, but ended up deciding against it.

"What about Sua Choi? Won't it be harder for American viewers to connect with her? With her not being completely fluent in English?" the first producer asked.

Drew huffed at that notion, "The Stone chooses the best of the best. Take it or leave it."

"Yeah, Sua is probably one of the more interesting people to send in an application for the season," Pamela was on the same accord as The Exalted One.

"Alrighty then. Joshua Everest. What makes him so special? Isn't he just Cove, but with a skateboard?" the second producer asked in a smart-alecky manner.

"Joshua is more than just a laid-back skater dude-" Pamela starts.

"Yeah, according to his app, he's a bit more competitive than you'd think at first glance… And it says here that he's scared of knives because he almost became a murder victim?" the first producer mused, interrupting Pamela once more. The lifeguard's eye started to twitch, anger bubbling up inside of her. In just one moment, she was about to make a mistake that could change the trajectory of her whole career.

"Pam. Pam. Pammy. Spam Pam." Drew tried to get her attention, but found little success. She was about to reach her wit's end. Instead, Pamela took one deep breath, and tried to go to her happy place.

The producers look on at Pamela's near breakdown with unease. "Well, what about this final contestant, Asuka Kiyora?" the second producer asked, doing her best to lighten the mood.

"The Stone loves K-Pop." Drew replied.

"SHE'S A DAMN PUNK ROCKER, YOU ABSOLUTE ASS!" Pamela screamed at him, before deciding that she had had enough and made her way to the hallway. She needed a cigarette, dealing with these idiots made her head hurt.

Updated Cast List

Females:

1. Laurie Ray Dawson - The Fragile Mixed Martial Artist (xxPrincxssxx)

2. Rochelle Diaz - The Cage Fighter (PurpleShadowManipulator)

3. Sua Choi - The Idol Queen In-Waiting (Candela Monsoon)

4. Tamera Brown - The Head B**ch in Charge (MorbidGinger)

5. Mollie DuPont - The Dramatic Painter (TheGreatGolem)

6. Asuka Kiyora - The Badass Punk Rocker (Epifanio Therion)

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Males

1. Theodore Wallace - The Youtuber (PR Nightmare)

2. Osvaldo Agosti - The Self-Proclaimed King (TheGreatGolem)

3. Chase Walker - The Perverse Thief (Ser Matten)

4. Joshua Everest - The Laidback Skateboarder (Nobody245)

5. Cove Mosley - The Intuitive Floater (MorbidGinger)

6. Pharaoh Sky - The Fake Royal (Nobody245)

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

A/N: Hey guy! How are y'all doing? We're back again with an update on the cast list that we have so far. We've received at least 30 submissions, and we're looking forward to receiving more. Don't be afraid. Keep sending in OCs. Just because they aren't on this list right now, at this moment, it doesn't mean they won't make it onto the final cast list. Looking forward to more submissions. Y'all have a great day! Also, please. NO MORE MARTIAL ARTISTS! AND NO MORE KNIVES OR ANY TYPE OF BLADES! Take that for what you will.